Internet bookmarks are stored Web page locations (URLs) that can be retrieved. As a feature of all modern Internet web browsers, their primary purpose is to easily catalog and access web pages that a user has visited and chosen to save. Saved links are called "favorites" in Internet Explorer, and by virtue of the browser's large market share, the term favorite has been synonymous with bookmark since the early days of widely-distributed browsers. Bookmarks are normally visible in a browser menu and stored on the user's computer, and commonly a folder metaphor is be used for organization. In addition to bookmarking methods within most browsers, many external applications exist for bookmark management.

Bookmarks have been incorporated in browsers since the Mosaic browser in 1993. Bookmark lists were called Hotlists in Mosaic and in previous versions of Opera; this term has faded from common use. Other early web browsers such as ViolaWWW and Cello also had bookmarking features.

Bookmarks are a fundamental feature of web browsers, but some users have expressed frustration with bookmark collections that become disorganized and have looked for other tools to help manage their links. These tools include browser synchronizers and desktop applications.

With the advent of social bookmarking, shared bookmarks have become a means for users sharing similar interests to pool web resources, or to store their bookmarks in such a way that they are not tied to one specific computer or browser. Web-based bookmarking services let users save bookmarks on a remote web server, accessible from anywhere.

Newer browsers have expanded the "bookmark" feature to include variations on the concept of saving links. Mozilla Firefox introduced live bookmarks in 2004, which resemble standard bookmarks but contain a list of links to recent articles supplied by a news site or weblog, which is regularly updated via RSS feeds. Bookmarklets are small scripts stored as bookmarks that can be clicked to perform a function.

Storage

Each browser has a built-in tool for managing the list of bookmarks. The list storage method varies, depending on the browser, its version, and the operating system on which it runs.

In Netscape-derived browsers, bookmarks are stored in the single HTML-coded file bookmarks.html. This approach permits publication and printing of a categorized and indented catalog, and works across platforms. Bookmark names need not be unique. Editing this file outside of its native browser requires editing HTML.

Firefox 3 stores bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences in a transactionally secure database format (SQLite).

In Internet Explorer, "Favorites" (also "Internet Shortcuts") are stored as individual files named with the original link name, and the filename extension ".URL", for example "Home Page.URL". They are collected in a directory named "Favorites", which may have subdirectories. Bookmark names must be unique within a folder. Each file contains the original URL and Microsoft-specific metadata.

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